Admittedly, photographing a lone chair on an old loading dock may be considered a bit cliche, but I just can’t help myself. I’m always scanning the landscape for blighted buildings. I like to imagine photographing a freshly reupholstered piece of furniture plopped right down in front of a run down structure. I guess it makes me feel the building may be old, but it’s not quite done for. And, when there are chairs lined up on a porch, or a dock like this, it’s obviously a gathering place at some other hour of the day. I love it! It’s so gritty and real.
Today, I only had to walk out my studio door and down the parking lot about 25 yards. It’s the old loading dock for my landlord’s kitchen business. Isn’t it fabulous? (Right behind those garage doors there’s a vast wood shop that was fully manned about ten years ago when the kitchen cabinet business was booming. Now, tools and equipment are unplugged and covered with dust. It’s an all too real depiction of the decline of today’s housing industry.)
But on a lighter note, the reupholstery business, and more specifically, teaching people how to reupholster their own furniture is on the rise. Before yesterday, The Little Red Chair was an ugly brown wallflower with peeling veneer. Believe me, she was nothing to write home about until she got her makeover right there in my Monday Night Upholstery Class.
A little dab of wood glue, some clamps, sanding, primer and paint laid the groundwork for the mod black and white fabric.
The Little Red Chair was now all dressed up and ready for her photo session on the rough, dilapidated, wood plank dock right here on this hot September afternoon.
Tags: chair makeover, diy reupholstery, diy upholstery, modern chair
